As the world continues to spend more time on social media to connect and interact during quarantine and lockdown, it’s important to be vigilant and self-aware when scrolling through your feed.
Scientific studies continue to prove that social media comparison and envy are major contributors to depression.
The more depressed you feel, the more likely you are to sit around and passively scroll through social media. It can create a vicious, negative cycle that’s tough to break.
If you’re not careful, the enviable Instagram images of people spending time in luxurious locations or building abs of steel can directly cause your mental health to suffer, without you even realizing it. It may only take a few minutes of scrolling to go from feeling bad to worse.Â
Here are some tips to help you practice self-compassion in isolation
1) Limit your social media consumption
Don’t feel bad for unfollowing or muting people on social media whose posts don’t contribute anything much to your life. You will definitely feel better when you aren’t looking at posts that don’t entertain or inspire you.
2) Practice positive affirmationsÂ
If you see a post that instantly makes you doubt or question your own self-esteem and self-worth, put down your phone and take a minute to apprecaiate the things you love about yourself. Too often we spend time on this ruthless cycle where we zoom past people’s images and immediately begin to suffer from FOMO or lack. Remaining positive and high-vibe will ensure that you appreciate the content from a place of objectivity.Â
3) Leave comments on the posts that inspire youÂ
In giving we do in fact receive! If you come across a post that inspires you, make sure to leave a comment or just maybe even hit like. Sending that love back out will in turn make you feel good about yourself and reinforce your opinions and where you stand on certain things that you like. You will then have a clearer idea on the things that make you feel good, therefore the other things will lose their shine.Â
If you have any other suggestions on how we can practice self-compassion while online, let us know in the comments below!